On Our Radar

A curated collection of links to news, analysis, trends, ideas and views from elsewhere.

USA Today: Black households can afford just 25% of homes for sale, down from 39% in 2012

The share of African Americans who own their homes fell from 43.8% in early 2012 to 40.6% in the second quarter, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By contrast, the white homeownership rate has edged down slightly, from 73.5% to 73.1%. In 2004, during the housing boom, nearly half of black people owned their homes.

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National Mortgage News: Median sale price of Twin Cities home hits a record in October

Entry-level home buyers outnumbered sellers in the Twin Cities metro in October, boosting prices and stifling sales of houses priced at less than $300,000. For those willing to spend more than that, it was a radically different story — sales and listings of move-up properties increased double-digits.

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Los Angeles Times: DACA Changed A Generation Of California Immigrants. These Are Some Of Their Stories

They are doctors and pharmacists, business owners and students who were brought to the United States as children, unaware that they had entered illegally or on visas that later expired. Without legal status, their hopes for the future were dim.

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The New York Times: Why It Costs So Much to Build Affordable Housing

Over the past few months, Google, Facebook and Apple have pledged to invest a total of $4.5 billion in land and loans toward stimulating the production of affordable housing in California. Our article looks at how those efforts, laudable as they are, won’t amount to much unless the state enacts land-use reforms that make it easier and cheaper to build.

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The Washington Post: Las Vegas Bans The Homeless From Sleeping On Some Streets. Critics Call It A ‘War On The Poor.’

Amid protests and boos, the Las Vegas City Council voted Wednesday to ban homeless people from sleeping on some city streets — a controversial measure that critics have called a “war on the poor.”

The Washington Post: Las Vegas Bans The Homeless From Sleeping On Some Streets. Critics Call It A ‘War On The Poor.’ Read More »

The Baltimore Sun: This Tech Company Is The First To Get A Boost From Moving To A Baltimore Opportunity Zone. Are More Coming?

A College Park-based venture capital fund recently created to invest in opportunity zone businesses gave an undisclosed sum to Galen, part of about $7 million the company has raised so far from investments, subsidies and tax breaks for job creation.

The Baltimore Sun: This Tech Company Is The First To Get A Boost From Moving To A Baltimore Opportunity Zone. Are More Coming? Read More »

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